6 hours and 39 minutes of exposures collected over three nights. Calibrated and stacked using Astro Pixel Processor. Final image editing using Photoshop.

This image of IC1396 (Elephant’s Trunk Nebula) was captured over three nights from Bortle Class 5 skies in Owen Sound, Ontario (Canada). All image data was captured with a unmodified DSLR camera and an unguided wide field 61mm refractor telescope.

IC 1396 is an emission nebula located roughly 2,400 light years from Earth in the constellation Cepheus. Made up of glowing interstellar gas and dark dust clouds it is energized by a bright central star. The Elephant’s Trunk nebula (IC1396A) is a key feature located roughly in the centre of the formation.
The bright yellow star seen at the edge of IC 1396 (lower left) is The Garnet Star (aka Mu Cephei, Erakis). This red supergiant is one of the largest known stars, with a radius estimated at roughly 1,500 times that of the Sun (and about 100,000 times brighter).